India cantered to a nine-wicket win over UAE in Dhaka on Thursday (3 Mar).

Bhuvneshwar Kumar finished as the highest impact player, and bowler, of the match for an incredible spell (4-2-8-2) that snuffed out UAE’s faintest of hopes. With everything set up, the chase was always going to be a mere formality. The decision, therefore, to give Rohit Sharma the ‘Player of the match’ award is utterly bizarre, and incorrect.

Shaiman Anwar was the highest impact batsman of the match. He was also his team’s highest impact player. Anwar’s innings commenced with UAE floundering at 2 for 2 in the fourth over, and his was the ninth (and last) wicket to fall. That he contributed to 53% of UAE’s total, while absorbing all that pressure, resulted in him having such a high impact; higher than Rohit Sharma, in fact.

Needless to say, it was a forgettable outing for UAE. Only Shaiman Anwar registered an impact of more than one. Everyone else failed. India, meanwhile, had only two failures.